The Two Important Qualities of One Gun
by Fluffy1984
Summary: There was an idea to revisit the two-beings-as-one concept, which grew into two new reploids with the potential to change combative warfare forever. The only problem is, they have personality. They eventually steer themselves into the Maverick Hunters, where their past almost immediately catches up to them. Will they have to sacrifice everything to keep the ones they love safe?
1. Chapter 1

General Byrce sighed as he stared out the window and into the desolate Arizona desert. Even in the 22nd century the land hadn't changed much, except perhaps drier. There were actual dunes in the northern parts before it suddenly gave way to rocks and scraggly brush the closer one became to the Grand Canyon. The old base in Tucson was all but abandoned when the deserts expanded and the local water sources dried. The monsoons still came every year, but it would be a long while before the aquifers below rose to old levels.

In the room sat or stood other old brass who had nothing better to do than fortify defenses, keep their senses sharp, and stay ready in case any huge rebellion broke out. Some parts of the world had erupted into civil war, and they had been keeping the peace. What no one else knew was there were also reploids mixed in. Their own replicant android units took care of those, but the fights were getting hairier and the military was hard-pressed for reploids that were willing to die for the cause and work as a cohesive team in a short amount of time. They would hold, but something needed to be done before those teams fell apart.

"General Byrce?" asked an older gentleman, one of the few black five-star generals in history. It really was a shame, Byrce thought, that only after unification of all nations did something so rare become so commonplace.

The old bearded general turned to his gathered equals and said, "You all know why we're here in the middle of nowhere."

"The problem is, we haven't even considered the idea again since the Repliforce Rebellion. Colonel and Iris were incapable of merging, which is why we split them up in the first place," a bald elderly man reminded. "How can we make this any different and not have any future drawbacks?"

"Weren't those two supposed to be one?" asked General Carpenter. "To avoid such a disaster from happening again, we don't have to go the same route and fix any glitches from the previous attempt. We just have to take a different approach. Let's take the yin-yang concept..."

"But that's exactly what went so wrong with Colonel and Iris, the inability to maintain that balance within themselves."

"Now just listen for a minute. We don't have to make it one whole reploid. Let's go with a pair, twins. Human twins can sync to each other like no other, even balance each other out. Sometimes it's like they know each other's very thoughts or sense each other's presence and know their condition. It's a unique phenomenon I think we can safely replicate in an android." Byrce scritched his chin thoughtfully, idly making a note to trim his beard again when he returned home.

"It sounds feasible, but _is_ it?" the bald General Smith cautioned. "How long will it take to implement? And if the project is successful, will it be in time?"

"Building any cookie-cutter reploid is as simple as cutting a shape from paper. The hard part is going to be the programming and the custom specifications. What do we want as far as bodily capabilities?"

"Standard military specs for our reploids, to be sure," Carpenter suggested, "with slightly more advanced mental capabilities. We'll have to look closer at the Original's blueprints; even after all this time he _still_ has greater mental capacity and ability than other reploids, very nearly human. Maybe more advanced firepower, but that's something else to consider further down the line. We want our boys to be an inseparable team first and foremost."

"Then it's agreed to go forward with this idea?" Byrce paused as each and every hand in the room went up, then added, "Good. We'll use this base for the project, bring in our best from R&D and reploid manufacture."

"What do we call this endeavor? Take 2?" Smith mildly joked. Byrce smiled at the irony and nodded.

"Project Take 2."

As the meeting made its way back outside, the sun scorched the old men even for wintertime. Snow used to fall in the area, but the air became too dry for that kind of weather. They each boarded a helicopter that would take them back to their respective home bases, planning to keep in touch throughout the project as it moved forward. Byrce hoped beyond hope that something would come of the project. At the very least they had to glean some sort of knowledge or have some kind of breakthrough innovation. If they couldn't use the twins or even make more of them, they would have to be scrapped and the original plans locked away.

"This idea is ridiculously costly," grumped one of the generals present who hadn't spoken in the meeting. "We should have some kind of backup or contigency plan in case something goes wrong."

"You mean if something goes wrong with the finished product," General Byrce clarified.

"The 4th War was a public _and_ private disaster, practically a massacre. We don't want a repeat of history, Byrce. I only voted yay because it's slightly more feasible and this won't go beyond the military. If this works, we'll be the most powerful force on the planet when we seed our ranks with twin pairs. Even those Maverick Hunters will be able to see who _truly_ runs the show."

* * *

It would be a few months before the Generals saw any fruits of their labor. Specialists from around the world and with connections to the United Nations Military converged on the old, small base at Tucson, dragging with them equipment to convert it into a research powerhouse. Living quarters were decided upon at the nearby housing, which were essentially townhomes. It was an all-human team, more as a precaution than anything else. After all, the last highly capable reploid scientist went Maverick and began the 6th War.

Neurologists teamed up with designers and programmers to hammer out the initial concept, bringing in older ideas from the Colonel/Iris project and refreshing themselves on the philosophy of Yin and Yang. Harmony, balance, not being able to have one without the other. Indeed, it seemed easier to embody the base ideas in two bodies instead of one whole, so long as each half had a little bit of its opposite within them. The two had to understand each other completely. As a lucky happenstance, one of the women on the team actually had identical twins and could provide input on how they acted. Oftentimes they differed greatly in personality despite having the same appearances, as if they were originally meant to be a single person the entire time. The fact identical twins form after a fertilized egg splits into two eggs added to the truth of the phenomenon. It seemed the Chinese Taoists had it right all along.

While the mental side was being handled, a separate team of designers, reploid system specialists, and analysts tackled the physical bodies. Standard military grade was usually higher quality than the civilian manufactured reploids, even mostly better than custom comissioned reploids. Their armor was more durable, stood up to greater temperature extremes with less loss of performance, and their processing speed tended to be much faster. Their dash thrusters were more efficient and their communications capabilities were longer range. The Hunters updated their recruits as best they could on par with military standards, but it was costly. For this project, no expense was spared.

But what gender to model the new additions? It was an unspoken courtesy to make as many female reploids as male, but after a few minutes everyone decided males would suit the project better. If the project was successful, notes were made in the plans to make the next pair female twins. Day by day, the first-draft blueprints took shape.

During the middle of the first month, General Carpenter visited the base to survey progress and obtain a status report to take back to his peers in the Capital. The ebon-skinned man toured the facilities with one of the neurologists as a guide, and already Carpenter was able to see a workable skeleton taking shape. The microfusion cores, the power source for all modern automatons, had just arrived and stood by in their shipping casing until they were ready to be inserted. The microfusion generator had been around for over a century, but since then astounding improvements on the design had been achieved. They were smaller, more efficient, and for some specific models they had thicker shielding. The twins would have the thickest shielding allowed without adding too much weight to their bodies and therefore inducing unnecessary strain on their systems.

"How is their mental foundation coming along," asked the general as he looked over the programming team typing line after line of code, compiling, and debugging every few minutes. Papers were strewn about everywhere on every workstation, and Carpenter marveled at how each person knew where everything was despite the mess. He would never fully understand "organized chaos", it was an oxymoron that only seemed to work because of incredible short-term memory.

"So far we haven't hit any snags. Results from early simulations suggest that these two will 'grow up' together without any problems. If there are any, they're liable to be as easy a fix as retraining. Their brains will re-wire just like any normal human would while maintaining their inherent sync. Lydia Maxwell's input has been extremely helpful."

"She's the one with actual twins, isn't she?" At the scientist's nod, he added, "Did she have any long-term recommendations?"

"Not to separate them for very long. Identical twins tend to be very bound to each other, and unless they wish it so, they don't want to be apart for long amounts of time. They have a natural inclination to draw near each other again. If they're isolated from each other very suddenly, it won't take much for them to break down."

"We may need to build precautions in them just in case that does happen. If one of them dies, we don't want the other committing suicide to join its twin. They'll have to be able to function as a whole entity as well as part of a whole entity." _We can't afford to have another direct repeat of history, not so soon_, he thought gravely.

* * *

Back in the Capital, Byrce impatiently paced his office. He had done so since learning of General Carpenter's landing at the airport; he would have been there to greet the highly-respected man, but he had his hands tied with other work he couldn't rightly make an excuse to ignore for even a few minutes. Said work finished for the day, he now awaited his aide notifying him of Carpenter's arrival and impending report from Tucson. Enough time and money had been poured into Project Take 2 that the Parliament leaders were getting anxious. He needed something promising soon if they were to have continued nearly-endless funding.

Finally, the door opened and even before Carpenter could announce himself Byrce turned and asked the question everyone wanted to ask: what news from Tucson?

"Things are going well, General Byrce," Carpenter smoothly reported, in his formals and his clean white hat tucked in the crook of his arm while the other laid at rest. "The twins are coming together nicely, and they're starting to work on the skeletal framework for the bodies. All the details have been worked out, and the programmers are working double-time to keep up with the physical team's pace." He approached the antique mahogany desk and laid down a manilla folder stuffed with a typed report and a few photos from the operation. "There's a basic outline of what's going on, and a detailed report of what I found when I visited there, plus a picture or two to give you a better idea. All in all, I'd say we've got a good case to present to Parliament to see this project through."

"How's security at the place?" Byrce asked, his last and final worry of the past few weeks. Fanatics were still at large, pro-human lunatics who believed they should go back to the days when robots were nothing more than dumb terminal computers with a limited AI. Some believed they should go back even farther than that, before the integrated circuit, maybe even before the Industrial Revolution, all to avoid what they called an Apocalypse they were sure reploids and robots were sure to bring. Byrce just brushed them most off as asocial people who spent too much time watching old movies, but the threat of some were very real.

"Tight as can be. Everyone has an ID they are not to enter without, and they can't get back out of the facility without it, either. Had one lock-in already, poor man. It had just fallen off his coat while he was working and he had to crawl in the dark to search for it so he could just flip a switch. Cameras and retina scanners have everyone working there in a database, and at every door requiring clearance they are scanned one by one by both before confirming with their badge. It'd take one hell of an impersonator to get inside. We've also done background checks on the teams there, we know that our current team is no threat to the Project."

General Byrce nodded at the reassuring report and finally allowed himself to relax. He smiled despite his misgivings about the whole thing. He had reviewed the incident with the Repliforce siblings, even read the report that was an account with a battle with Iris. The Hunter that had written it had more than just grieved at the whole thing, he had been heartbroken. That war was a disaster on all levels for all sides, and it made Project Take 2 even more important in that it succeeded. The sad attempt at cleanup had brought upon all of them a massacre, so if even Take 2 failed, they had to be discreet about it. No one else could get involved.

"So, how soon can we expect them to have the boys up and running?"

"Within the next month or so if all goes as planned. I personally plan on being there for their activation. Where should we take them for training and conditioning? Fort Leavenworth? Lackland Air Force Base?" Carpenter added in a joking tone, "Fort Davis?"

"Leavenworth and Davis are isolated enough, too bad Davis is a museum. Lackland is too central, I still want to keep them hush-hush until we're sure they'll work out completely. Leavenworth should do just fine."

"Then I'll let the others know. When are you going to present that to Parliament?"

"At tomorrow's summit meeting." The timing couldn't have been any better, in Byrce's opinion. If Carpenter seemed confident all was well, then it was probably true.


	2. Chapter 2

The moment of truth came upon the Generals and the team sooner than they expected. The building process had gone so smoothly apprehension was higher as all were assembled in the room where two completed reploids bodies lay. Their armors were mirrors of each other and yet also subtly unique in design, different in shapes and angles in small ways as well as being two analagous colors: a soft mossy green accented by a tint of the hue, and a dull blue with sky blue accents. Their helmets were outfitted with a single antenna on opposite sides, and one of their eyes were covered by a piece of shatterproof glass. The scouter-like piece functioned like an extra set of sensors that could be customized to the wearer's needs as often as they wanted. A sunk-in lavender hexagonal jewel marked their control chip locations, flanked by simple blocky crests that gradually melded into the back of their helmets.

The cores were functioning at full power and effeciency. All that needed to be done was to run the activation program that would boot all their systems, run a standard diagnostic, and allow the two new reploids to become alive. Throughout the project thus far they had been called Twin 1 and Twin 2, but it was Lydia who suggested they be given actual names upon activation. Since the bond between actual twins was very much on the genetic level and dependent on time spent in the womb, she also came up with the idea of activating the twins while they faced each other. They could imprint on each other before being introduced to their large team of creators and the Generals that commissioned them.

Byrce watched as the team made preparations for activation, rotating the tables and elevating them while trying not to trip on all the cables connected to the twins. Underneath their armor the reploids' bodies were like any other humanoid's, which easily let them pass for completely human. The bearded General could hardly wait to see the fruits of their labor, even though Project Take 2 was only barely halfway done.

Lydia Maxwell found herself fussing over every aspect of the activation process, unable to help relating to the new additions. Her own twins were still toddlers, and they taught her a great deal about the human mind, and the human heart. To replicate something so deeply knit in two machines seemed impossible to her at first, but as time wore on and she more carefully observed her own two bundles of joy, the prospect seemed more and more doable. After all, reploids developed naturally at a faster rate than humans, so the time needed to bond the two wouldn't be too long at all. That was the hope, at least. Some reploid siblings were very close just because they were activated and raised together, so the more they encouraged that bond the more inseparable the twins would become, thus being twins both in build and in mental state. In order to make that happen, they had to be careful in this very first step.

The excited and anxious atmosphere was about to burst when the go-ahead was finally given to begin the first activation and booting. Machines hummed with power as processors raced to run protocols and send their resulting commands to the two dormant bodies facing each other. In a short minute that felt like an eternity, Twin 1 and Twin 2's bodies began to power on, their systems taking their time booting and checking for any problems. No errors bleeped, and sure enough two pairs of plum-colored eyes opened as their chest cavities drew in their first breaths. Lydia had to keep down her squeal of excitement as everyone tensely watched the two reploids stare and size each other up.

Green-colored Twin 1 blinked at the input before him. He ... was? Who was he? And who was this spitting image of himself in front of him? Blue Twin 2 sported a more inquisitive expression as he contemplated the same questions, but he decided Twin 1 was someone to be friendly towards. He smiled. Twin 1 cautiously tilted his head as he appraised the other more thoroughly, but in time he returned the smile. They were both new, and the more he looked at the other the more he felt like he was looking at another half of himself. He began to rise off the table with a hand outstretched, putting weight on one unsure leg. Twin 2 took the hand in his own and matched Twin 1 step for step. Just aside the Twins, the team of specialists and scientists could hardly contain their excitement any longer, but they were equally afraid of shattering what could be a crucial moment.

The twins took their time studying each other, even resorting to touch. Twin 2 asked, "We're individuals, right?"

"Yeah," Twin 1 confirmed, "but we're one, too. What do I call you?"

"I dunno." Twin 2 glanced aside and slightly jumped at the assembled crowed he had _no idea_ was there. His eyes went wide and he even stepped slightly closer to Twin 1 as the green reploid calmly assessed the people before them. "Um, who are all of you?"

Byrce grinned as everyone else quietly celebrated and answered, "We're the minds and hands behind the two of you, boys. We all had a hand in your creation."

"Do you have our names?" Twin 1 asked. "There is nothing preset for us to call ourselves."

Before anyone else could speak up, as they hadn't thought of proper names yet, General Carpenter replied, "Your names are Recoil and Caliber; Recoil is you, Green, and for you, Blue, you'll be named Caliber." The older black man gained a few stares, but no one argued. The twins took in the names and said them to themselves in low voices to try them out, then smiled and nodded.

"What's your name?" Caliber asked. Carpenter noted lightheartedly the lad was the more curious one. That quality would come in handy when on recon or other information-gathering tasks.

"My name is Bruce Carpenter, but you can call me General Carpenter. You'll be brought up to proper speed on history, society, and military soon enough." Caliber closed his mouth. "Right now we just want you to get used to each other and to being awake."

"May we look around?" Recoil asked politely. If they were going to be there, they might as well get to know the place. Lydia gladly stepped forward with a beaming smile and took their white gloved hands.

"Allow me to give you boys a guided tour," she offered. "Then we'll start what we call the 'info dump'. Your minds will handle it no problem."

"As long as it doesn't take too long," Caliber responded as he and Recoil were gently tugged out the door. Once the door closed behind them everyone else erupted in cheers and congratulations, patting each other on the back and grinning like idiots. Even the gathered brass felt optimistic about the endeavor. Just a few minutes into activation and they were already showing a natural curiosity, taking in everything about their environment and analyzing it, even critical thinking. Their personalities differed in all the right ways that they could bounce off each other, maintaining their individuality as well as acting as one whole personality when together.

"I have to admit," General Smith said, "those two really are something. If only more reploid activations were like that."

"They will be if we want other twins to be as bonded as those two," General Byrce affirmed. He turned to everyone else and announced, "All right, let's celebrate some, but first thing in the morning I want this facility being disassembled for mobilization! The Twins are moving to Leavenworth for their training ASAP!"

* * *

Recoil and Caliber had paused outside the building at the end of their tour of the base inside dusty old Tucson, Arizona with Lydia trailing beside them. The sun had set, allowing the stars to introduce all their wonder and splendor to brand new eyes who had just hours before seen their very first sky, their very first clouds, felt their very first breeze. It was as if a whole other world opened up to them, and their young minds instantly wondered if it was possible to reach those great heights and maybe touch those stars. As in all deserts, the temperature dropped to freezing, but in their armor the twins barely felt the chill. Mrs. Maxwell gathered her labcoat around herself and gave a shiver, which Caliber noticed.

"Are you cold, Lydia?" he asked, reaching out an arm almost in complete instinct. Perhaps, he surmised, that humans were more susceptible to temperature extremes, and her coat hardly looked heavy enough to insulate.

"Yes, but I'm fine Caliber. I know when I'll need to go back inside." Caliber considered her response for a moment, then decided to trust her words and nodded. Lydia smiled to herself; it was good that they were already showing concern for those they considered allies. The stronger moral compass they had, the less likely they were to become Maverick by choice. The Virus was still a factor, but at least there was a race to research some kind of cure. She just hoped this most recent stretch of peace lasted long enough for that to happen.

"It's so beautiful out here," Recoil mused, looking out now at the expanse of land, a mix of manicured landscaping suited to arid climates and a rolling desert. Mountains sprung up to the northwest, just one vein of the great mountain chain of North America, the Rockies. Recoil stood transfixed for just a moment more before looking up towards the night sky, his gaze becoming fixated on a highly concentrated band of stars that everyone called the Milky Way. "Lydia, what's that band? It looks like a lot of the little pinpoints and some other material." It was then that Lydia truly realized the twins didn't know the proper names for anything just yet, so she prepared to explain in full. She stepped closer to Recoil, which prompted Caliber to step closer so he could listen in.

"That's a band of stars, Recoil. The 'pinpoints' are actually stars. They only look small because they're so far away, but they're also so powerful that their light can reach all the way here over great distances. We call that band the Milky Way, and it's part of our galaxy." The scientist had to stifle her giggles at the dumbfounded expressions on the twins' faces.

"What's a galaxy?" Caliber asked.

"It's an enormous cluster of millions of stars that usually orbit around a super-massive blackhole."

"What's a blackhole?"

"It's a super-dense object that's formed when a massive star explodes out in what's called a supernova."

"Oh!" Caliber paused for a moment and opened his mouth again, but Recoil stopped him cold.

"Later, Caliber. Will we learn more in that so-called 'info dump'?" Lydia nodded, unable to hold back a big grin.

"Yes, you'll learn all the basics you need to know, including an intro to astronomy. There won't be much time for pleasantries after that. You boys are going to start your training right away." The two blinked in surprise and glanced at each other questioningly. Training? What for? Did they already have a purpose or a job lined up for them? Why, after being activate so soon? Caliber pouted at the thought of not being able to enjoy just being up and about for much longer. He couldn't see why Lydia wouldn't be able to teach them all they needed to know and do. Recoil gave the notion a little more thought, his gaze flitting to the ground as he contemplated.

Meanwhile, Lydia carefully studied the two's completely different reactions. She could tell Caliber knew there was more to their situation, though that wasn't necessarily his current focus. Recoil also obviously understood Caliber's emotional response and probably felt that way himself, but he decided to focus more on the reasoning behind the rush to get them up to speed.

To her surprise, it was Caliber that decided to ask, "What are we training _for_, Lydia?"

"It's military training, Caliber. You're both military-grade reploids, due to be trained for serving and protecting the people wherever you're needed." Her answer satisfied the blue reploid for the moment, who nodded and fingered the scouter-like glass that covered his left eye. Out of curiosity, he accessed the extra HUD for the device and blinked when he discovered half of his vision had converted to the infrared spectrum, complete with a gauge on the far left side. Recoil watched with interest, then also tried to access his extra attachment. He also found himself in the infrared spectrum, then with just a thought he switched to a nightvision mode.

"What exactly are we fighting for?" Recoil asked finally. Lydia had to admit, she hadn't prepared herself for the well-thought out questions. After all, she was a new mother herself and was only used to the still-developing minds of her toddler twins. New but very _adult_ minds were another thing entirely.

"There are some disputes that have called for military force. You two might be put on the front lines eventually, but for now just focus on your training and introduction into the world," she answered after a moment. Recoil gazed at Lydia for a moment, sensing she didn't want to tell them the entire story. Caliber missed the uneasy exchange, having spent the past few minutes testing his additional vision modes. Aside from infrared and nightvision, they were also able to scan and analyze anything within their sight. In that mode, all they had to do was move the cursor with their pupil and focus on the object for the analysis to begin. With a mischievous grin, Caliber turned and focused on Lydia, who only indulgently smiled.

"Hey, Lydia, it says you're a _Homo sapiens_, female, age range 25 to 35, no weapons, non-hostile," he informed excitedly.

"Don't use that too often, you'll rely on it too much," she warned.

"What's 'Homo sapiens', anyway?"

"That's the scientific classification for humans."

"Is there one for people like us?" Lydia's face fell. No one thought to classify a being they habitually thought of as non-sentient, though evidence suggesting otherwise was standing right before her. She didn't want to dampen the mood anymore than she already had with Recoil.

"I don't think so. I guess one hasn't been thought of yet."

"Oh," Caliber replied quietly, sensing there was something more Lydia didn't want to discuss on that topic. He toughened up his expression and added more assuredly, "Well, they should! We all live together, after all!" Lydia regained her smile.

"Yes, that's true." A chill breeze kicked up the ends of her coat again, and the woman gave a hard shiver. "Brr! All right, that does it, I'm going back inside. I'll give you boys a few more minutes." The twins nodded in acknowledgement and watched the young woman trudge through the sand on her way to the door, then turned to each other when the heavy steel clicked shut.

"I don't know what I'm feeling, Recoil," Caliber confessed. "We both know so little right now, and they're trying to shove us into something I'm not sure we can handle."

"I know, Caliber," Recoil replied softly, gently bumping the side of his helmet with his brother's. "I feel the same way." The physical contact helped the two reassure each other more than words could at the moment. After a few minutes they turned as one toward the door and quietly walked back inside the old facility. Lydia waited for them just inside with another scientist, who the twins carefully studied before deciding to trust the newcomer to a point.

"Come with us, guys, we'll get you set up and begin the info dump," Lydia explained as the four walked to a computer lab with two units on and loaded with the program that would "teach" the reploid twins all the basics they would need to know. "It won't be all at once. You'll go for a few hours, rest for the night, then finish up in the morning while we pack everything away. We're going to Fort Leavenworth as soon as possible."

"So why are you escorting us," Recoil asked the companion scientist, a male with a messy hairstyle and 5-o-clock shadow. He adjusted his glasses and sniffed.

"I'm just going to make sure you boys are all set up for today and tomorrow. Miss Lydia has two children of her own to take care of, she can't be the only one to look after you two as well." The two blinked at the new word as they were led to two terminals and sat down in front of them. Children? What was a children? Could humans break off into pieces? Wouldn't they be burdened by such a thing? What was the purpose?

Lydia almost laughed aloud at the obviously confused expressions on the twins' faces, but she only told them they'd learn all about children and how they came into the world by the time they were done for the night. The mussy-haired lad directed the twin reploids' attentions to their respective screens and started the program. The information scrolled up the screen at a pace too fast for any human to fully read and process, but for any machine it wasn't a problem. Occasionally photographs appeared in sets of twos, threes, and fours depending on the topic. Satisified that by the morning the two would be more well-versed in the basic ways of the world, Lydia and her compatriot left the room. The program was already set to pause after a few hours had passed, and someone would come in the room around the same time to show the twins to their room. In any other circumstance they would have been escorted back to their original pods, but the laboratory they resided in was the first scheduled to be disassembled.

* * *

A few hours later, Recoil blinked in surprise when a notification about the time limit popped onto his screen and the scrolling halted. Caliber made a small grunt when the same window appeared on his screen, and he took the opportunity to yawn and stretch his stiff shoulders. Recoil relaxed against the back of his chair, rubbing his face that seemed frozen from being still for so long. The information they had been fed still processed, though both now had a greater understanding of the world around them and how it worked. To think that humans took literal years to learn that much! Vocabulary alone was substantial, and even after what everyone considered "basic" there was still a gargantuan amount more they could potentially learn.

The two turned behind them at the sound of the door opening, and the young man from earlier entered. He looked even more unkempt than before, and the twins could only guess the scientist had been hard at work on something.

With an adjust of his glasses, the lad announced, "Time's up for the night, boys. Come on, I'll show you two to your beds." Recoil and Caliber glanced at each other once, then stood as one and walked side-by-side toward the young man. He had to admit, the twins cut an imposing silhouette. Stature more than made up for the lack of height, and with more training there wouldn't be much the two couldn't handle. The trio walked out of the main building and cut across a dried out landscape to the townhomes. Several lights were still on in the late hour as the rest of the team wound down from their day. The Generals slept in the officers' quarters in a separate building nearby, which was completely dark. Out of habit the older men had turned in early, planning to rise before dawn.

The twins were led to a first-floor room, which their escort unlocked and opened. Recoil was quick to evaluate the layout with his nightvision and flipped a nearby switch for the lights. Caliber stepped slightly ahead to scope out the other rooms while the young scientist made his way to the kitchen. A little snack before bed couldn't hurt.

"I'll make sure you two are up for the rest of your info dump," he informed, "so pick out whichever room you want and get some rest."

"What if we're not quite sleepy yet?" Caliber asked, peeking his head out from a lit doorway. He looked to Recoil before he heard the answer and grinned. "Recoil, this one has a bed big enough!"

"All right," Recoil replied. The green-armored reploid turned to their human roommate and added, "Goodnight, sir." He saw the acknowledging wave, then walked into his and his twin's chosen bedroom.

"Aw, but I'm not that sleepy," Caliber complained as Recoil closed the door.

"You'll have to rest sometime. I'm not that tired yet, either, but I want to at least relax." Recoil's azure brother huffed, but didn't argue. The verdant twin wasn't fooled for a second. They both felt anxious about their upcoming training, and their seemingly set future.


End file.
